Pulse
by lips of poison and wine
Summary: Artemis Blaze made a promise to her father when their pack was slaughtered two years ago. Now, older and stronger, with her best friend and weapon by her side, Artemis is determined to make good on that promise. To achieve her goal of revenge, she has to go undercover as a meister at DWMA. A little subterfuge never hurt anyone... Death The Kid x OC. Soul X Maka.
1. Heavy Lies The Crown

_Breathe slowly, Inhale exhale, a path I've already walked, but I just can't stop_

_It's too familiar, this same routine, as I live day by day, it slowly eats at me_

Arms Like Yours, Inhale Exhale

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_Artemis_

I'm perpetually running. No matter where I go, no matter what I do... it ends up like this.

Me. Alone. Running away from the demons of my past and losing a little bit of myself each day. I've always loved running, loved the burn of it, the stretch of my muscles, the way my body glided over the forest floor. I skid to a stop, chant softly under my breath and breathe a sigh of relief when my bag materializes quickly in front of me

_Artemis_, I can hear my father saying, can almost feel his laughter behind me. Y_ou run as if you have wings on your feet!_

And with that I reach inside my bag and draw out my bow, positioning myself and steadying my breath. I shape my soul wavelength into an arrow and notch it, standing tall and readying myself against an attack. When it comes, it knocks me flat off me feet, and I barely have time to blink before someone is looming over me, breath warm on my face and knife pressed against the tender skin of my throat.

"You jerk! Seriously, Atlas?" Scowling tightly, I push my best friend off of me, unamused by the stunt he just pulled.

He rolls his eyes, running a hand through his wavy blond hair and smirking, as if I wasn't two seconds away from going berserk on him.

"Chill out, Artemis. You really think that one of them was going to show up here? In case you hadn't noticed," he points out sardonically, "we're in the middle of fucking _nowhere_. I doubt anyone is on the warpath for a surly werewolf and her charming companion."

I grunt as I stand up, choosing to ignore that last remark, in case I'm tempted to show him what a _murderous_ werewolf looks like. I can't deny that he's right, though. There's no one in this world that would coming looking from me. My name is Artemis Blaze, and I'm the last surviving member of the Blaze pack. The rest of my family was slaughtered by a trio of witches two years ago. Witches who were after the one thing my pack wouldn't give up: me.

"_Artemis!" The smoke clogs in my throat and I retch, eyes stinging as I try and navigate my way toward that voice._

"_Mom!" I scream, but the only sound that answers me are the howls of my pack as they fight whoever invaded our village and started this fire. Eventually, I see them. Three witches, grinning with malicious glee as they raze my entire world to the ground. I howl, falling to my knees and one of them turns._

_Her eyes are blood red._

I shake off the grim memories of my past and glance down at my wrists, both of which are tattooed with a double infinity symbol. One for the promise I made to my father.

"_...A-artemis... promise me... you won't let them use you. Promise me you'll do what's right," my father chokes out through the stream of blood pouring from his throat._

_Fifteen year old me can do nothing but nod, sobbing as her father's life drains away in her arms._

And one for a promise I made to myself.

"_This is all because of me," fifteen year old Artemis murmurs as she watches her life crumble to ashes. Her eyes harden and she lets out a snarl. "I swear I will make them pay."_

And two years later? I'm ready to make good on that promise. Even if it destroys me.

_Atlas_

The first time I laid eyes on the sixteen year old Artemis Blaze, I fell halfway in love. She had been walking down the street, minding her own business, when some punk had decided to get a little touchy-feely with her. She slammed her fists into her jaw, bringing her knee up hard into his groin and knocking him to the floor cold. She blew on her knuckles, flipped her hair, and sauntered away with a smile.

It wasn't a conscious decision to start following her... but I had never met anyone who was that fierce. It didn't hurt that watching her walk was quite an enjoyable activity...her skin was the color of milk chocolate, and she had legs a mile long. Her hips swayed to some silent beat, and her long hair loose and wild. She hummed softly as she continued toward her destination, unaware as I slipped in line behind her. This continued for a couple minutes until she paused by a shop window, admiring a dress on display in the window.

"You gonna tell me why you're following me? Cuz if you're gonna try and play 'grope the unassuming girl', I'll give you the same treatment as grabby hands over there," she said dryly, not once looking away from the dress.

….Okay, so maybe not as unaware as I had previously thought.

That was our first meeting. She had left me there, stunned and more than a little embarrassed, while she continued on her way. Artemis wouldn't let me in easily; I basically had to stalk her for a week until she gave me her name. Grudgingly, we became friends, though we couldn't have been anymore different.

I, the trust fund baby who spent an absurd amount of time and money on anything that would keep me away from home and being sent away to find a meister. The boy who refused to let anyone control him, who wasted his life away by partying.

And her. The mysterious girl with a past that would shock the heartless, who harbored secrets under her flawless appearance, whose pretty green eyes held a world of pain.

Currently, those haunting eyes of hers are pinned on me.

"So, what did you find out? Any leads?" Her voice is calm, collected, but I can tell how anxious she is to hear what I have to say by her stance, by the way sucks her pouty lower lip into her mouth and bites on it.

Since we'd started traveling together, we'd been across the globe searching for information about the three witches who'd murdered her pack in cold blood. We'd found zip, zero, nada, until we'd heard about a sighting of a mysterious woman with blood red eyes. I'd had to fight her on letting me go alone; I knew if it had actually been the real deal, I might have lost the one thing in the world that matters to me.

"No," I say softly, "it was a dead end." I watch as the light in her eyes dims slightly.

As a weapon without a meister, I had never experienced the bond that I had always heard spoken of, the bond between two souls that was held sacred above all things. But I liked to think if I had ever come close to that feeling, it would be with the girl standing by my side.

"Aww. Cheer up, pup," I teased affectionately, ruffling her hair and laughing as she huffs and shoves me away, unable to fight the crooked smile twitching on her lips.

"Don't call me pup, unless you want to wake up one morning without me," she threatens, but there's no real heat behind it and we both know it. Without each other we have nothing. I don't even have time to blink before she chants something quietly and snaps her fingers, tossing the backpack that appears out of thin air at me. I open it, raising an eyebrow when I see that it's filled with cash...and not much else.

She shrugs, smirking. "I figured we could take a break. Maybe hit Vegas?"

Holy hell, I _love _this girl. I pump my fist in the air as an answer and walk behind a tree to where I parked Delilah, my motorcycle. I swing myself onto her, snapping on my helmet and lightly pressing down on the pedal. I turn my head to see Artemis transformed, my breath catching just like it always does.

Because in the place where my best friend stood only moments before was a wolf. Not the conventional kind either. More of a cross between a real wolf and something older...something feral. She's more than at home in her wolf skin, pelt as sleek and as black as the night sky peppered with stars, wicked canines bared in an imitation of a grin as she looks at me. But her eyes stay the same. Oh so human, and green as the forest floor, the sight of them reassures me and I rev the engine at her.

"Race you?" I say cockily, and she barks at me once, as if to say _just watch me. _I slam my foot down and we're off, Artemis easily keeping pace beside me as she raises her muzzle and salutes the moon with a long howl. She can do it without worrying someone will find us for now, but considering the way trouble seems to follow the two of us, I just can't escape the sinking feeling we're bound to run into something eventually.

_Artemis_

We're a couple hours away from Las Vegas when an idea hits me. I stop, tumbling forward and landing on my feet in human form, shaking out my hair and stretching my muscles. Atlas grinds to a stop next to me, raising an eyebrow.

"Thought you couldn't wait to party it up in Sin City," he comments dryly after raising the visor on his helmet. "What's with the sudden holdup?"

I shoot him a glare that conveys exactly how much I care about the snarky attitude he's giving me. Then I study him for a moment, unsure how to put what I'm feeling into words.

"Transform," I ask him quietly. I decide to just approach the matter directly and see how he reacts.

Close as we may be, Atlas hates his weapon form and rarely allows me to see him in it, let alone wield him. He frowns, and searches my eyes. I'm not sure what he finds in them, but he exhales shakily and nods. The amount of trust he's placing in me right now... I don't allow myself to dwell on it as he swings over the side of his bike, splitting into two Sai that I catch easily. He's let me wield him once before, but we never really checked to see if our wavelengths were a close enough match. I hold him and balance, feeling our souls mesh and reveling in the connection.

His weapon form is gorgeous, two long pointed Sai with red and black hilts that are inlaid with gold. His tips are sharp enough to pierce skin and I can see him through the thin blade. Atlas pokes his head out and raises an eyebrow at me again, patiently awaiting an explanation for the delay in our trip. He's really not going to like this plan.

"You know how your parents wanted you to attend Shibusen? Well, we're about to make their dreams come true."

His jaw drops and he springs out of my hands, returning to his human form. He's speechless for a moment, which is a good look for him, because everytime he speaks I end up with an overwhelming urge to smack him.

"Y-you...ARE YOU INSANE?! That place is full of stuck-up snotty meisters and their bratty weapons, who, might I add, probably won't take kindly to a werewolf who possesses abnormal magical abilities and her pretty-boy weapon friend joining their ranks!"

I stare at him as he goes on his little tirade, then roll my eyes and yawn, which causes his eye to twitch.

Good.

"Are you done? I don't care if you are, I'm going to start talking anyway. First off, I can just use Soul Protect to pass myself off as a regular human meister. You, of course, will pose as my weapon. The only thing that might cause a problem is if I'm forced to use my magic, but I'll be fine without it. Otherwise..? I really don't see the issue here. And those snotty, stuck-up kids? Those are your _people. _You should be ecstatic that there are others out there that are like you, not be putting them down."

My tone is ice-cold and I know he notices it. He runs a hand through his hair and then comes over to me, wrapping me up in his arms. I resist at first, but then snuggle into his warmth, breathing in his familiar scent.

"Look, you're absolutely right," he murmurs into my hair, dropping a kiss onto my forehead. "I just don't understand why this is necessary. We can get info from other places without putting you in danger like this. Because if they find out what you are..."

He doesn't need to finish that sentence. We both know that it won't end anything but bloody if I'm caught.

"I know. But think about it. The very fact that witches and meisters don't get along is going to help us out in this situation! Maybe one of them has battled with that red-eyed witch before!"

Atlas still doesn't look sold on the idea. I pull him down so that our foreheads are touching and look deep into his eyes.

"Atlas, please," I beg, and every ounce of desperation in my voice is raw and open. I can tell that he doesn't want to give in...but in the end he sighs softly and nods.

"Okay," he says slowly, "I'll have my parents make the arrangements."

I breathe a sigh of relief and bury my face in his chest, relaxing at the sound of his heartbeat.

_Ba-dum._

Oh, Atlas. What have I gotten us into?

**A/N: Sooo. This is a little introductory chapter to Atlas and Artemis. There's going to be a lot of all our favorite main characters in the next chapter! I hope you liked their backstories because I had sooo many different options I wanted to go with... I will reveal more about the three witches and why they wanted Artemis later.**

**Anyways, Review please! :D**


	2. Cat's Cradle

"_I want to, I want to be someone else or I'll explode_

_Floating upon the surface for_

_The birds, the birds, the birds_

**- Radiohead, 'Talk Show Host'**

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_Atlas_

I didn't ask to be a weapon. I never wanted it, was never tempted by the siren song promise of glory and fame. I've always been too busy taking care of myself to handle the kind of responsibility placed on people with the same 'gift'. The fact that the rest of family has a long history of being famous weapons is just the icing on the cake. The fact that I'm the only one who isn't a sword, and actually has three weapon forms? That little gem has caused to nearly kill myself on several occasions, due to the fact that everyone is expecting me to be the greatest weapon our family has ever seen.

Gift. Hah. Yeah, _right. _Curse would be more appropriate. The constant expectations that loom over you, the burden of having someone place their life in your hands, the dangers of the job...

Nah, I've always been far too much of a self-serving type to _willingly _place myself in a situation where someone is depending on me. But somehow, ever since Artemis Blaze sauntered into my life, I've been doing things that would be considered...selfless.

Like standing in the freezing rain with absolutely no protection other than a thin hoodie and trying to use a fucking pay-phone (of all things) to call my parents. I fumble as I dial my mom's cell and pray she picks up. The phone is answered on the second ring and I can practically see the look of confusion on her face as she sees the unknown number, muttering a quiet hello.

I dry swallow and try to speak around my tongue, which resembles a heavy slab of cement in my mouth.

"Hey, mom," I say into the phone, and her breath catches.

I haven't spoken to my parents in four months, since they blew up on me for 'wasting my time gallivanting around with that gold digging pet project of mine' _end quote. _Yeah. Suffice to say they and Artemis don't really get along well. The one time I tried to introduce them was a complete disaster.

I realize she's been talking into the mouthpiece this whole time and cut her off. "Mom, I want you to register me at Shibusen."

She pauses in the middle of her meaningless spiel, and for a moment, there's nothing but radio silence on the other end .The she starts wailing happily, practically sobbing into the phone.

"Ohh, Lord, I had prayed this day would come! Oh, Atlas, your father is going to be so excited! We'd kept your name on the list hoping, always hoping, this day would come! Who's your partner? Hopefully you've ditched that hoodlum along the way- she'd only by a stain on your rep-"

_Okaaay, I've heard enough of that particular line of BS._

"Actually, Mom, Artemis _is_ my partner. And because of that, I expect you to treat her with some respect, not talk about her like she's trash." Hopefully she'll be so happy that I've finally decided to 'make something of myself' that she won't care _who_ my partner is.

She breathes heavily over the phone and I can literally feel the waves of motherly disapproval being directed toward me over the airwaves. To my surprise, she exhales calmly instead of berating me like I'm a child, or screeching like a banshee.

"Fine. Do it your way. But I am expecting you to uphold the legacy of the Warden name, Atlas. If I hear so much as one word about that young..._lady's_...escapades? I will have you separated so fast your head will spin!"

I grit my teeth but manage to force out a few more words. "Thanks Mom. I got it."

"Yes, well... I only want what's best for you Atlas,"- _You mean what's best for the precious family legacy-_" You should be able to start on monday, but I can pull some strings and have you set up in the school apartments by tonight."

It's more than I would have hoped for. I know Artemis is going to be stoked by the news, and that pulls a half smile from me. I give her the name of our hotel so she can call us on the room phone when she gains access to the apartment, and we exchange goodbyes. Then I sigh, and start the thirty minute trek through the rain to tell the news to my best friend, who is probably sleeping like a baby.

Being a selfless, giving person? Yeah, it sucks ass.

_Artemis_

Memories are like quicksand. They start out looking innocent and harmless, and before you know it? You're being sucked inside and under, suffocating under the weight of them.

A breeze, a red and yellow kite, and the soft chime of my mother's laughter as she swings me through the air. _Up, up, and away!_

A fire, a scream and the sound of my heart shattering into pieces as I watch my mother be devoured by flames.

I'm laying on one of the twins beds in the cheap hotel I picked out for us. I stare unblinkingly at the cracks in the ceiling, tracing the thin fissures with my eyes. I could fix it, if I wanted to. Fix it from crumbling down over my head and suffocating me. My soul protect is already in place, but I can't help but wonder at the irony of that spell.

What good is it going to do me if my soul is already at war with itself?

Mixed souls like mine are rare. I've only heard of one other: _Magan no Otoko, _the man with the demon eye. Of course, we differ in one rather important aspect. He had stolen the witch part of his soul; I had been _born _with it. My parents realized something was off with their darling little angel when I was about three years old. I had been crying over the fact that a kite my father had made for me had blown away in the wind, when to the shock of my parents, an exact replica of the kite I had lost reappeared in my arms.

Instead of being horrified, they had encouraged me to cultivate my magic. It had been hard, because I'd had to teach myself, to come up with my own techniques and work out the kinks that came with being part witch. My adolescent years were filled with training and little else; till my father had deemed my sufficiency with weapons adequate, and seen that my control had grown over my abilities. It was a pack secret, something that should had never left the village.

But it had. And that was the catalyst of the fateful fire that had snatched away my childhood and everything I had ever loved, leaving me with soot in my eyes, and a pile of smoldering ash where my heart had been.

I'm not aware that there are tears spilling over my face until I taste them, mouth open and heaving with sobs. I cough and scrub my eyes with my hands, blinking the last of the tears away. I can't let Atlas see me like this, see me so unhinged and pathetically weak. Despite everything we've been through together this past year, sometimes I feel as if the only reason he sticks by me is because I'm some sort of charity case. That I'm another distraction to keep him from facing his parents and joining the real world. And though most of the time, I'm loathe to admit it... I need Atlas. He's kept me from going insane, from hitting rock bottom, and I consider him family.

The only one I have left.

Sighing softly, I stand and get myself a glass of tap water, peering into the glass to check if it's clean. The door opens with a bang and I flinch at the loud noise, fingers itching for my bow. I relax when I hear Atlas's familiar grumbling and turn to look at him. He's soaked, shivering, and a hot bolt of guilt pierces through my chest at the fact that he was only out there in the rain because of something I had asked of him.

"You should take those off," I murmur, waving at his dripping clothes, "I don't want you getting sick on me."

He snorts as he strips. "Thank you for your concern, _mother_."

I wait until he's changed into a clean shirt and some jeans and is laying down on his bed before I ask.

"What did she have to say?" It's likely his batshit crazy mom starting screaming at him for still being around me. The one and only time I met Atlas's parents, I ended up in a situation that involved a dead poodle, some vodka, and a shovel. Umm, yeah. Needless to say, I'm never being invited over there ever again.

"Well..." he says with a yawn, "She's supposed to call her so we can get set up in the school apartments tonight."

I freeze, heart beating erratically in my chest. "We... we're in?"

"Yup," he nods and smiles softly at me. "We should be able to start come monday."

…_..Wait a second._

"And you're saying your mom didn't have an aneurism when she found out you and I our taking our relationship to the partner level?"

He winces and shudders. "Christ, you're like a sister to me, and that phrasing was a tad bit incestuous, don't you think?"

I feel my cheeks warm and shoot him a glare. No use mentioning that I think of him as brother as well.

"You know what I mean, you depraved pervert! Did she or did she not?"

"No, actually. However," and here he pauses to smirk at me,"She did promised to separate us if words of your, and I quote, 'escapades' reaches her."

I mock pout and throw myself down on the bed next to him, curling around a pillow. "She's never going to forgive me for Lady Frou-Frou, is she?"

"I doubt it. Considering what happened to that poor poodle-"

I give him the evil eye. We never recount that incident. Ever. Just as I'm considering smothering with the pillow I'm holding, the phone rings and my heart leaps in my chest. Wordlessly, I pass it to him and sit back as he makes all the arrangements. My head is pounding with anxiety, and I only relax when he hangs up and turns to me with a smile.

"Death City, here we come."

* * *

The city isn't anything like I expected.

For one, it's looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the decor could use a little work. The whole, 'let's stick a skull on every building' theme? Yeah, it's not really working for me. I have my fair share of skull jewelry (and one regrettable tattoo)...but to put one on just about every single building...? Come on. I get that this place is owned by Lord Death, but it comes off as just little bit narcissistic to me.

Walking through these streets at night isn't exactly a pleasant experience when there are empty eye sockets staring out at you from around every corner. I heave a sigh of relief when we reach the apartment, and let Atlas do all the talking with the building owner. Once he has the key, we climb a couple flights of stairs until we reach the fifth floor.

Before he opens the door, Atlas turns to me and pulls me in for a long hug. Even though this whole thing was my idea, I've always been horrible at hiding how I'm feeling, and I know I must look extremely nervous about the days to come.

"Relax," he murmurs soothingly, "We can do this. All we have to do is go to school, maintain passing grades, and not get ourselves killed or found out while we search for information on the three witches we're hunting. Then we can drop out and hit the slots back in Vegas."

Riiiight. Because that isn't laying on the pressure thick at all, is it? Sometimes I wonder if all men have the emotional capacity of a brick wall, or if Atlas is just a special case. I snatch the key out his hand (which, by the way, is shaped like a fucking skull. Seriously?!) and give him a look as I open the door, smiling a little when I see that the place is not only already furnished, but that it has a cute little kitchen area as well. I set my bag down on the small table, and turn to my partner, who has already vanished into one of the rooms.

He pokes his head out and gives me a puppy-eyed look. "Can you unpack everything? I always forget what I put in there anyway."

I roll my eyes but nod and he smiles with relief, closing the door. I hum as I open my knapsack, reaching inside and pulling things out one by one. To others, it may seem as if we pack light, considering we only share the one bag between us. In truth, I've managed to fit about as many clothes you would find at Macy's, my weaponry, and other things I've likely forgotten about inside of here. It's a simple spell that creates a never ending storage space inside of an object. Whenever I want to remove a specific item, all I have to do is focus on it and reach inside.

Right now I'm pulling all of Atlas's stuff out. I lift about half of it in my arms and leave it on his bed. I can hear the shower running in the hallway as I put the rest of his things away and instantly perk up at the chance of a hot bath. I walk into the second room and flick the lights on before I instantly start putting things away and organizing them, trying to keep my mind off everything.

How long was it going to be, I wondered, before I could finally claim vengeance and appease the ghosts of my past?

How could I even be sure this plan would work? Trying to subtly extract information out of people wasn't my strong suit. Atlas was the charmer, not me. I hadn't successfully interacted with more than one person in two years. The late Lady Frou-Frou could attest to that.

I was sure of one thing, though. I had waited long enough. I had honed my skills to perfection, and though it was going to be difficult adjusting to fighting with a partner, Atlas and I were already in tune and I was confident we could work it out. When I had nothing left to put away, I changed into a pair of sweats and a wifebeater, crawling onto the bed.

My exhausted body collapsed in a pile of tired limbs and I closed my eyes, sinking peacefully into darkness.

**A/N: Ahh, okay, so maybe I lied about the introduction to all our favorites, haha! Next chapter is going to be much, much longer, and is going to include coffee, nose bleeds, and a sparring match that comes a little too close to a real fight! Review, maybe? Please? ;D**


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